July-August 2017 from the Editor: Welcome to the July/August 2017 Edition of the AAA Newsletter
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS’ ASSOCIATION A bi-monthly publication Newsletterof the American Accordionists’ Association July-August 2017 From the Editor: Welcome to the July/August 2017 edition of the AAA Newsletter. As the musical memories of the summer festival in Princeton, NJ resonate the variety of concerts, competitions and activities that took place, the countdown is now on leading up to the Gala AAA 80th An- niversary Festival to be held in Alexandria, VA (Washington, DC) from July 11-15, 2018. We hope you all are able to include this important event in your plans. It promises to be an exciting and important musi- cal event. Once again my sincere thanks to the AAA Past President, Linda Reed and Board of Director, Rita Davidson for their kind assistance with the AAA Newsletter. We invite you to submit your news items for publication so that your fellow members can see the incredible array of accordion activities happening throughout the country. Items for the September/October Newsletter can be sent to me at [email protected] or to the official AAA e-mail address at: [email protected]. Please include ‘AAA Newsletter’ in the subject box, so that we don’t miss any items that come in. Text should be sent within the e-mail or as a Word attachment. Pictures should be sent as a high quality .jpg file, and the larger the file size the better. We can always reduce/crop the picture if necessary, however we are unable to increase the quality from smaller pictures. Thanks for your support, and I look forward to hearing from you all! Sincerely, Kevin Friedrich - AAA Newsletter Editor From the President: We send our support and best wishes to Nathan Hope you have had a GREAT summer. It is Chapeton, the AAA Repre- rapidly coming to a close, and Fall will be upon sentative to the Coupe Mon- us soon. With the change of seasons comes a diale Masters Category in renewed interest in “learning” for all of us. Osimo, Italy. The event be- School begins, we all look for something new gins September 5th with ac- to do, clean up old projects that have remained cordionists from around the incomplete, etc., etc. world competing for honors AAA SqueezeFest Looking back over the summer and its and prizes in the multiple events, I feel blessed that I have had the oppor- categories. Keep an eye out for the “Daily Re- July 11-15, 2018 tunity to meet and spend time with accordion- ports” and videos from the event, which will be Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites ists (and musicians) from around the world...at posted to the Confederation Internationale des the AAA Festival in Princeton, on my trip to Accordeonists website at www.coupemondi- 625 First Street Italy for the Peter Soave Music Academy, in ale.org ...click “enter” on the home page, and Portland, Oregon for the Rose City Accordion Alexandria, VA 22314 then on the 2017 Italy icon and look for the Camp at Silver Falls, and so much more. videos! You will be entertained and amazed. My wish is for all of our AAA members to AND...Be sure to “Save The Date” for our experience these joyful and educational experi- 80th Anniversary Celebration and Festival, July ences. Keep tuned to the AAA website, this in- 11-15, 2018 at the Holiday Inn and Suites in credible newsletter, and our AAA YouTube Alexandria, Virginia. Guest Artists include Channel for highlights of all the events...you Joseph Natoli, Stas Venglevski with Tatyana will be amazed at what the accordion is up to Krasnobaeva, and yours truly – Mary Tokarski; these days...and be sure to note all the young Conductor for the 80th Anniversary Festival people who are dazzling us with their talents. Orchestra will be our beloved Joan Cochran The accordion is ALIVE and WELL...and I Sommers; and a Lifetime Achievement Award might add...in good hands for the future. Ideas will be presented to Louis F. Coppola during from the AAA Open Meeting held July 16th at the festivities. Remember to get your hotel our Festival Farewell Breakfast are in the reservations in right away... the hotel will cut works, and we appreciate input from ALL AAA off our special rate one month prior to the start members to help guide us in presenting the of the Festival. Stay posted to the website for Sponsored by the events and interests that YOU have suggested. more up-to-date information as it becomes American Accordionists’Association Feel free to send suggestions and comments to available. Don’t miss this one! the AAA email address: See you there! [email protected]. A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association page 2 July-August 2017 Accordions Around the World in New York, NY AAA Board member Mario Tacca was one of the many featured artists performing in heart of New York City as part of the annual Accor- dions Around the World celebration. Performing in the shadows of the magnificent New York City sky- scrapers, the July 12th celebration included artists on Concertina, Ban- doneon, Accordion and Harmonium performing a variety of styles from Cajun, Tex Mex, Folk, Jazz to Indian Chant and more. Pictured are a sampling of the many artists performing on July 12th, including Rachelle Garniez, Dick LaVine (Concertina), Vitor Goncalves, Laura Vilche (Bandoneon), Eddie Van Tuba, John Sherman, Kenny Margolis, Albert Behar, Melissa Elledge, Mindra Sahadeo, Smörgåsbandet, Gre- gory Grene and Sadys Rodrigo Espitia. Internationally acclaimed vocal- ist Mary Mancini and husband accordionist Mario Tacca are pictured with event coordinator Ariana Hellerman. 'Accordions Around the World’, a four-week series of free music in- volving over 100 accordionists and players of free reed instruments, rep- resenting different musical genres ended in grand style on Friday July 21st with an ‘Accordion Festival’ hosted by New York-based accordion- ist Rachelle Garniez, and featured the Bil Afrah Project, Zlatni Balkan Zvuk, Osnelda (Brazil), Gregorio Uribe (Colombia), and more! The series opened when producer Ariana Hellerman, a New York arts consultant hosted "The Great Accordion Rendezvous, a "Make Music New York Mass Appeal and Celebration of the NYC Accordion Com- munity" on June 21st. Bryant Park is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 40th and 42nd Streets, New York. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the 2018 series as plans are made next year.n Masters Graduate Michael Bridge The University of Toronto proudly announces that Michael Bridge is a Class of 2017 graduate of U of T's Masters of Music Performance program. An accordion virtuoso, the U of T featured Michael in their "The Great Accordion Rendezvous, a Make Music New York ongoing spotlight on exceptional class of graduates. This Fall, 25- Mass Appeal and Celebration of the NYC Accordion Community" year-old Michael Bridge will start a doctoral program in accordion, becoming the third person at U of T to take it that far. Michael Bridge is a captivating young musician, redefining the Mary Mancini and sound and image of his traditional instrument. Named one of CBC’s Mario Tacca “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30”, he is internationally recog- pictured here with nised for his dynamic stage-presence and unique musical versatility. Ariana Hellerman His repertoire includes classical masterworks, baroque, jazz, world music, folk dances, contemporary classi- cal, and digital accor- Michael dion compositions Bridge showcases the diverse genres possible with the accordion and re- moves stereotypes concerning the limita- tions of the instrument. Michael made his solo orchestral debut with the Boston Pops tled ‘Rock Bach’. He performs in Ladom Ensemble, an acoustic at 17, and has per- Iranian-Serbian-classical-tango quartet. formed on four conti- An ardent supporter of new music, Michael has over thirty nents, now playing world premieres to his credit, including works by Anna Pigdorna, over 100 concerts per Airat Ichmouratov and Pouya Hamidi. As a composer, he wrote year. He is a founding and recorded two folk albums and is the primary arranger for member of Double- several of his chamber ensembles. Double Duo having He has gratefully received support for his academic work and toured Ecuador, touring from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Social Sciences Poland, France and & Humanities Research Council, The Sylva Gelber Music Foun- across Canada with his dation, the Government of Alberta and the University of Toronto. collaborator Dr. Kor- On September 3, 2017, Michael will perform with the Edmon- nel Wolak (clarinet). ton Symphony Orchestra in their program “Symphony under the Their debut album Skies” under the direction of Bob Bernhardt. For more informa- launched in 2015, enti- tion, please visit www.michaelbridgemusic.com. n A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association page 3 July-August 2017 Ksenija Sidorova in New York City Kesinija On Saturday, August 5, 2017, Ksenija Sidorova made her “Mostly Mozart” debut at Lincoln Cen- Sidorova ter’s Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse in New York City. The Mostly Mozart Festival is a week-long classical music festival that takes place in New York City every summer. Ms. Sidorova’s performance was branded as the first accordion soloist recital in the history of the 51-year-old festival. Her program featured the following selections: Scherzo-Toccata (Londonov); Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, maman,” K. 265 (Mozart); Autumnal Sceneries (Kusyakov); Barcarolle, Op. 10, No. 3 (Rachmaninoff); Revelation (Voitenko); Tanti Anni Prima (Piazzolla); Sentido Unico (Piazzolla) and S.V.P. (Piazzolla). Most of the arrangements were by Ksenija Sidorova herself. The audience in the sold-out venue was charmed by Ms. Sidorova’s artistry, technical capabilities, showmanship, and congeniality.